NORTHERN WHITE-FOOTED MOUSE 



71 



This white-footed mouse does not hibernate, but is active through- 

 out the winter, and stores up grain and seeds for use during cold 

 weather. It is very prolific, usually bearing from four to six young 

 at a time, and it breeds throughout the year; so that, ordinarily, 

 two or three litters are produced in a season. 



FIG. 16. Map showing locality records of 



1. Northern White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis) . 



2. Prairie White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdi). 



This mouse is distributed throughout the state, and in some 

 localities, particularly in wooded areas, is quite abundant. The 

 localities represented by specimens are Wayland, Bayfield, Bur- 

 lington, Fairport, Thayer, Wall Lake, Iowa City, Charles City, 

 Homestead, and Newton. It has also been recorded from Knoxville, 

 Redfield, Council Bluffs, and from Clay and Palo Alto counties. 



Food Habits, Economic Importance, Etc. The northern white- 

 footed mouse does not feed to any great extent upon green plants 

 as do the meadow mice; its food consists mainly of nuts, acorns, 

 the seeds of maple and other trees, grain in the fields, and seeds 

 of noxious weeds. It is also very fond of basswood seeds, the 

 pits of wild cherries, and the seeds of many wild shrubs and 

 grasses. ' ' In wooded regions or on waste land, where it commonly 

 lives, it is not very injurious to agriculture ; but when living about 

 the edges of cultivated ground it sometimes devours or carries away 

 grain in considerable quantities. ... It occasionally gnaws the 



